Smoking for 25 years raised the risk 1.60 times compared with smoking for one year.

Lead researcher Ms Daniela Di Giuseppe, from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, said: "Stopping smoking is important for many health reasons, including the increased risk of RA for smokers. But the clearly increased risk of developing RA, even many years after giving up, is another reason to stop smoking as soon as possible, and highlights the importance of persuading women not to start at all."

The findings are published in the online journal Arthritis Research & Therapy.

Women who had not been smoking for 15 years had a 30% lower risk of RA than women who quit only a year ago, the results showed.